


i asked her to stay

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Breaking Up & Making Up, Canon Rewrite, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Caring Jughead, Cheryl Blossom Needs a Hug, Crying, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s01e13 Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mental Health Issues, Mentioned Betty Cooper, Near Death Experiences, Season/Series 01, Secret Relationship, Suicidal Thoughts, Veronica is a Good Friend, Worried Jughead Jones, she gets one, worried everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 17:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12916737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: She looks dead,that’s the first thing that Jughead thinks to himself when Cheryl comes out of the water, it makes his chest seize with an unbearable panic. It leaves him stunned, a nagging voice saying that she is not going to come back to him. Then, he kicks it into overdrive, breathing into Cheryl’s mouth while Archie does chest compressions. He can hear Betty and Veronica screaming for someone to help in the background, but doesn’t say that no one is going to be able to hear them all the way out here.He’s not going to lose anyone else,he can’t.“C’mon, Cheryl,” Jughead mutters in between breaths. “Don’t do this.”ORA rewrite of the scene at the river in episode thirteen, this time with Cheryl/Jughead.





	i asked her to stay

**Author's Note:**

> I really thought that this would be longer, but that's whatever. 
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Won't Go Home Without You by Maroon 5.
> 
> I do not give my permission to have this fic or any of my other works to be posted elsewhere on wattpad, fanfiction.net, etc.

“Cheryl, please,” Veronica calls out to her. “Just come to the shore and we’ll figure this out together, okay?”

She turns to face the others just as the ice cracks and crumbles all around her.

The moment that Cheryl goes under the water, Jughead thinks that he’s going to have a heart attack. Because that’s his girl out there, _his_ Cheryl. She’d been pushing him away the last few weeks, going so far as to dump him over text two days ago. He’d been heartbroken and confused. As far he knew things were going well, as well as could be expected given the circumstance. She’d hadn’t responded well to FP being the supposed killer, or to her father being the actual killer, no surprise there. But Jughead never thought that she would do something like this.

All four of them are yelling and running across the ice in a second, racing towards where she fell in. Archie arrives first, practically screeching to a halt at the opening of the ice. There’s nothing there, just the water rushing around them underneath the ice.

“The current has her… spread out! spread out!” Jughead yells frantically.

Each of them scatters in different directions, kicking away the snow to try and find Cheryl. They don’t have to search very long before Archie is yelling:

“She’s here, _she’s here_!”

Jughead gets on his knees right next to Archie, smashing his fists against the ice until it gives way. He doesn’t miss the way that Archie groans after a particularly hard hit; Jughead doesn’t doubt that he just broke his hand. Before he knows it, Archie is reaching into the water with one hand and pulling Cheryl out.

 _She looks dead_ , that’s the first thing that Jughead thinks to himself when Cheryl comes out of the water, it makes his chest seize with an unbearable panic. It leaves him stunned, a nagging voice saying that she is not going to come back to him. Then, he kicks it into overdrive, breathing into Cheryl’s mouth while Archie does chest compressions. He can hear Betty and Veronica screaming for someone to help in the background, but doesn’t say that no one is going to be able to hear them all the way out here.

He’s not going to lose anyone else, he _can’t_.

“C’mon, Cheryl,” Jughead mutters in between breaths. “Don’t do this.”  

When Cheryl finally coughs up the river water, Jughead swears it’s the happiest moment of his short life. She opens her eyes, and Jughead is right there, looming over her, one hand in her hair despite it being cold and wet.

He speaks quietly so that only she can hear him.

“Hey, hey baby, I’m here. _You’re okay_.”

Jughead thinks that she nods at him, then thinks it’s just a reaction to the cold. When Cheryl starts to shake, he realizes how bad this is. They need to get her warmed up and dried off, _now_. He looks over at Archie, fear in both of their eyes.

“I’m not- I can’t carry her.”

Archie nods, “It’s okay, I got her- here, help me pick her up.”

He stays close as Archie carries her off the ice, Betty and Veronica trailing behind them as they make the trek back to the truck.

Jughead can barely think straight on the drive over to the Pembrooke. Cheryl is sitting in his lap, his jacket draped over her, shaking against him like it’s all that she knows how to do. Veronica has been rubbing circles into Cheryl’s calves and feet since the moment that they got into the car, and she keeps glancing up at Jughead every few seconds, looking at him warily.

If his friends didn’t know about himself and Cheryl dating before, they certainly do now. As much as Cheryl likes to show off what she’s got, she had asked Jughead to keep this secret, wanting to have something that was all her own for once. He had been more than happy to oblige, feeling the same way. They didn’t talk at school or sit near each other at lunch, but outside of school they were practically inseparable; sometimes he wonders why the two of them didn’t start dating earlier.

Jughead just holds on tighter as Betty drives, tucking Cheryl’s head under his chin after she lets out a whine.

“Just hold on, alright?” He says. “We’re almost there.” 

Once they arrive, the first that happens is that Veronica runs inside to light the fireplace. Jughead helps Cheryl inside, then sits behind her in front of the fireplace, a blanket wrapped around the both of them and Jughead’s arms still tight around Cheryl’s waist. She’s not shaking as much as she was before, and he thinks for a moment that she’s going to be okay.

Jughead wants to ask why she would do something like this, but his voice has seemingly escaped him. He mutters a _thank you_ when Veronica comes over with a mug of hot chocolate, she tells both of them that she’ll be in her room if they need anything, to stay as long as they need. Then, it’s quiet for a while, only the sound of the fire crackling in front of them producing any sound.  

“You don’t need me,” Cheryl says randomly, catching Jughead off guard.

Jughead looks at her so quickly that he thinks he’s going to give himself whiplash.

“Wh- why would you think that?”

“You don’t need me. I s-shouldn’t be here. I don’t belong anywhere… I was just trying to do everyone a favor and-.”

“No, no that’s not true.” Jughead says with a forceful kindness. “There isn’t a world or time and place where I won’t need you. I know that I don’t say it a lot, or enough, but I wouldn’t know what to do with myself without you. There’s no way that I’d have survived the last few weeks without you around, you know that?”

Cheryl starts to cry at that; quiet, hiccupping gasps leaving her mouth on their own regard. Jughead tucks her head under his chin again.

“I know you may not want to,” He continues. “But please promise me that you’ll talk to someone about this. If not me or your mom, then the school counselor or something. Okay?”

Cheryl nods against his throat, clenching her fists in his t-shirt.

“I’m sorry that I broke up with you. I didn’t- please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not. I’m not, I promise.”

Jughead holds her a little tighter despite her still being cold to the touch.

“Things aren’t always going to be like this.” He reminds her. “All of this bad stuff is going to go away. We’re going to get past this… and it’s going to be so _worth it_. You wanna know somethin’ else? I can’t wait to see where we’re going to end up someday, who we’re going to be… and I really hope that you’re there with me.”

Jughead kisses her forehead, then tells himself that he’s going to be better a boyfriend, that he’ll be more attentive so that something like this doesn’t happen again. He swears on his life that he’s going to do everything that he can to help her get through this. Besides, the girl that he loves deserves nothing less than that.  

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment or a kudos if you liked it, leave a prompt if you want to. You can find me on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad. Have a great day!


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